I have been out of the armor building part of the hobby for about ten years and lost touch with what is available. I have started again and have just gone through the Trumpeter kits of the French Hotchkiss variants that served in the German Army. I have several more French vehicles to go but hesitate because of track issues. In particular I have a couple of RPM kits (SdKfz 135 Universal Transporter & SdKfz 135 Beobachtungswagen) with those really hard to use individual track links, well really hard to get off the sprues in one piece.
Does anybody make an easier to use set of tracks for these vehicles?
Yes. Friulmodelismo make a metal set with a replacement drive sprocket. They aren’t cheap (north of $30) and require you to assemble the run. Space Ace also make a metal set (SAT 35086) available from HobbyEasy for about $28
Until a company comes and retools a modern version of the Lorraine tractor, any attempt at accuracy must include the metal tracks. If you can wait out your Lorraine kits (for a new tooled kit) and build another, less expensive and easier build, it might be worth considering.
Thanks Roy, after doing a lot of chasing about on the net to try to find someone selling those tracks at a price that wasn’t more than twice the cost of the kits I decided that those RPM kits need to go to someone else! With all the new armor coming out I’ll wait until better kits show up in the marketplace.